“That the unfaithful will be consigned to shame and ‘the second death,’ and the faithful, invested with immortality, and exalted to reign with Jesus as joint heirs of the kingdom, co-possessors of the earth, and joint administrators of God’s authority among men in everything.” Article XXV
Contrary to popular belief, the finally incorrigible wicked will not be tormented in the flames of hell. This erroneous idea finds its roots in the belief of the immortality of the soul. Since the soul is incapable of being destroyed, something must be done with those of the wicked. The “hell” of Christendom was invented to accommodate this teaching, and to provide a place where never dying entities may be subjected to its eternal flames throughout time without end. Such a God-dishonoring doctrine finds no support whatever in the inspired writings. It is purely the result of the thinking of the flesh which finds a measure of self-righteous satisfaction in the torment of others The doctrine of everlasting torments has been a lever, craftily wielded by the clergy to keep its members in line with its theology.
Because of the wide spread belief that the Bible “hell” is a place where the souls of the wicked are sustained and tortured without eternity’, it behooves us to discern exactly what the Scriptures do teach on this subject.
Sheol—The Place of the Dead
When we turn to the Old Testament, we find that the word, “hell” occurs some 31 times, and is always translated from the Hebrew word, Sheol. By reference to a good Concordance one may determine the true meaning of the word. Gensenius states that it refers to “a hollow, a hollow and subterranean place.” The etymology of the word can be traced to a similar Hebrew word, Shaal, meaning “to inquire, to request, to demand.” Hence, Sheol becomes a place (or condition) which demands all (mankind) without distinction. In the New Testament the translators have invariably rendered the Hebrew, Sheol with Hades. This word, according to Bullinger, is of “heathen origin and comes down to us surrounded with heathen traditions, which had their origin in Babel, and not in the Bible, and have reached us through Judaism and Romanism.”
Since Hades is a word of human origin, and used in the New Testament as the equivalent of the Hebrew Sheol, a word of Divine origin, its meaning can best be determined by its use in the Old Testament. Sheol occurs 65 times, and, in the Authorized version, is rendered 31 times “hell,” 31 times “grave,” and 3 times “pit.” The American Revised Version does not translate the word at all, but simply transliterates it; thus, Sheol. In the Authorized Version we find that in 4 cases where the word is translated as “hell,” the margin has “grave.” Thus, in the majority of occurrences (54%) Sheol is rendered by “grave,” while “hell” is 41½% and “pit” only 4½%,
All go to Sheol
From these facts, we find that “grave” stands out as the best and commonest rendering. The word, “hell,” which by dictionary definition means a place of future punishment is totally unsuitable as the meaning of Sheol. Sheol represents the present state of death and therefore naturally translates as the grave. By a careful perusal of all places where Sheol occurs, the student will find that “grave,” whether taken literally or figuratively, will meet all the requirements of the Hebrew Sheol. It will be noted, however, that Sheol does not mean specifically A grave so much as generically the grave.
A number of enlightening facts stand out upon examining the occurrences of Sheol in the Old Testament. To begin with, the Scriptures teach that everyone goes to Sheol when they die, whether they be good or bad. David expected to enter Sheol upon his decease, as he cried, “Return, 0 LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave (Sheol), who shall give thee thanks?” (Psa. 6:4-5). The King of Israel also declared that none would be able to escape the destiny of Sheol: “Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave (Sheol)?” (Psa. 89:47-48). Jacob also knew that upon
his demise he would enter the region of Sheol: “And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and said, For I will go down into the grave (Sheol) unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.” (Gen. 37:34-35). Job asked God to hide him in Sheol until His wrath be past; (Job 14:13). The wicked are also destined to pass into Sheol upon death, as the following texts indicate: “The wicked shall be turned into hell (Sheol), and all the nations that forget God” (Psa. 9:17); “Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou are a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his boar head bring down to the grave (Sheol) with blood” (1 Kings 2:9); “Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave (Sheol) those which have sinned” ( Job 24:19).
The true nature of Sheol
As to the state of those entering Sheol, the Scriptures teach that it is one of complete inactivity and is void of knowledge or wisdom. Sheol has only to do with the dead and stands in stark contrast with the state of the living. (See Deut. 30:15, 19 and 1 Sam. 2.6-8). Sheol is associated with:
Silence
Psalm 31:17
“Let me not be ashamed, 0 LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them he (dent in the grave (Sheol).” Isaiah 38:18
“For the grave (Sheol) cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.”
See also Psa. 6:5
No Knowledge
Eccl. 9:5-6
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any thing that is done under the sun’
No Activity
Eccl. 9:10
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge. nor wisdom, in the grave (Sheol). whither thou goest!’
Sheol is associated with mourning (Gen. 37:34-35), sorrow (Gen. 42:38, 2 Sam-22:6, Psa. 18:5, 116:3); fright and terror (Num. 16:27-34); weeping (Isa. 38:3, 10, 15, 20); and punishment (Num. 16:27-34, 1 Kings 2:6, 9, Job 24:19, Psa. 9:17).
Hades And Corruption
In the New Testament, the Greek Hades occurs eleven times and has the identical meaning of the Hebrew Sheol. In at least three places, the New Testament reference is a quotation from the Old: viz. Matt. 16-18 cp Isa. 38:10; Acts 2:27 cp Psa. 16:10; 1 Cor. 15:55 cp Hos. 13:14. In the Septuagint, the translators have invariably used Hades to translate Sheol.
As with the Hebrew Sheol, Hades is always connected with death, and never with life. It is spoken of in relation to the dead, never to the living. When Peter, on the day of Pentecost spoke to the multitude of Jews, he quite convincingly contrasted the state of the risen Christ with that of the dead David. After quoting from David’s writings concerning the resurrection of Christ to sit on his throne, Peter declared, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (Hades), neither his flesh did see corruption” (Acts 2:31). David’s remains still lay silent in his sepulcher, mute evidence that he had not yet been quickened. Paul, in pressing the same contrast between David and his Lord, said, “And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another Psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: But he whom God raised again, saw no corruption” (Acts 13:34-37). Thus, we perceive that Hades is a place where only corruption exists. All those entering Hades, as with Sheol, are to remain dead until the resurrection: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell (Hades) delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works“ (Rev. 20:13).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One